Hearing and Listening

on Sunday 24, July 2011

In Luke 18 Jesus tells His disciples, “So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.”

Apparently, there is a difference between hearing and listening. Our society is very noisy. It’s amazing how much we hear and have trained ourselves to tune out. We can hear the Word of the Lord and even engage in daily Bible reading, but not really listen with an open heart, eager to embrace the transformation that can happen when we are confronted with the living, active Word of God.

The Apostle James says that if we truly hear the Word and then don’t actively respond to it, we are living in deception. That’s pretty strong language. Later he goes on to say, “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” So God holds us deeply responsible for “how we hear” and then what we do with what we hear.

We need to daily cry out, “Lord, open my ears that I may truly hear and obey Your voice.”